1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to fire escape ladders, and more particularly to fire escape ladders which use steps recessed into the wall of a building.
2. Background Information
In case of a fire in a building, the occupants of a building need to be able to escape, often through the windows of the building. This can be problematical, because windows may be hard to climb out of, and they may be hard to unlock and to open. These problems are especially difficult for the infirm and for children. A blind person may also become disoriented in the confusion of a fire and not be able to find the window. The task of escaping from a room through a window is made more difficult in older homes. Older homes often have windows which are 48 or 54 inches from the floor. This is much higher, and harder to get out of for children, than more recent homes, which are required by most building codes to have windows no more than 33 inches from the floor. These lower windows are called easy egress windows, because they facilitate a child escaping through the window. The older style of windows can be modified to make their lower edge lower to the floor, but modification is expensive and requires dismantling a section of wall. There is a need for a simple modification to these older and higher windows to make it easier to escape from them in a fire.
Many prior art devices solve the fire escape problem by providing various types of ladder systems to allow the occupants of a building to escape. A ladder may be contained in a collapsed position and extend out from a window when it is deployed. Other ladders can be of rope with rungs, and be deployed from a storage box at the window. Alarm and lighting systems in buildings can flash and sound an alarm to alert the occupants to fire danger somewhere in the building, and can even direct them to the best route for escape, either by a standard pre-programmed escape route, or by sensing the location of the fire by the use of fire sensors and directing the person to a safe exit. However, these systems might not be of very much use in a residential setting, in which a blind person, disabled person or a child must escape from a room by climbing out the window. In that situation, a child, a blind person or an infirm person might have a hard time finding the window in the dark or the dense smoke, and they might have a hard time opening the window, and they may have a hard time deploying a ladder and climbing out the window. Once even in the window, they might have a hard time climbing down the outside wall of the house if the room were on an upper floor.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a fire escape ladder which uses steps recessed in a wall and is thus always available for use. It is another object of this invention to use a fire escape ladder which does not require deployment by the user. An object of the fire escape ladder is to be suitable for use by children, the elderly, disabled and blind.
A further object of the invention is to provide a way to modify high windows inexpensively to make them easy to escape from.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a fire escape ladder which has included in it a locator light, so that the ladder can be found through the smoke of a fire and in the darkness of night.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a fire escape ladder which has an audible alarm to alert the user of a fire and to guide the user to the ladder.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a fire escape ladder for escape from a basement by climbing up the basement wall, using recessed steps.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a fire escape ladder for escape down an outside wall of a house.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a fire escape ladder which opens or unlocks a window when used.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description as follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.